Woman Found Guilty of Endangerment

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, March 29, 2002

The California Supreme Court ruled that a woman whose fiance killed her 11-month-old daughter is guilty of felony child endangerment, even though the woman did not believe the man would harm the girl.

The 7-0 ruling, which reversed an appeals court decision, was handed down Thursday.

A Sacramento jury had convicted Eva Valdez of child endangerment and her fiance, Hiram Lebron, of involuntary manslaughter. Valdez's daughter died after being beaten and shaken by Lebron, who is serving a sentence of 25 years to life.

An appeals court reversed Valdez's conviction, finding that a guilty verdict would have required her to have left her daughter in a situation where she knew harm would come to her.

But the state Supreme Court said that it was sufficient to prove criminal negligence. It ruled that no reasonable person would have left the girl in the care of Lebron, who had injured her previously.

Valdez's friends told her she shouldn't leave the baby alone with Lebron. In the months leading up to the killing, the baby suffered numerous injuries, including a broken arm and a black eye, while Lebron was taking care of her.